


Windows

by CheekyBrunette



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-07
Updated: 2013-07-07
Packaged: 2017-12-18 01:23:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheekyBrunette/pseuds/CheekyBrunette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam lives in a building incredibly close to the one next door, and Louis’s window is directly across from his. Through white boards and some obscene staring, they get together. (And maybe Zayn and Niall do, too.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Windows

Liam is a very good boy. Everyone seems to think so -his mom, his dad, his teachers- and he tries his very hardest to uphold that belief. Liam does all his homework. He keeps his room very clean. He doesn't swear, and he still blushes at the naughty things Zayn and Niall say about each other. He doesn't do bad things

Which is why he feels so very guilty about this.

Liam Payne lives on the eighth floor of a rather nice apartment building. He rather likes it there, even if his window overlooks nothing but the flat complex next to his. Naturally, Liam doesn't look out his window very much. There's nothing to see and, besides, he's usually studying.

He shouldn't have looked up from his books, but something moving in the corner of his eye catches his attention. He looks up. He looks out his window. He looks over and into the room across from his in the other building, and oh.

 _Oh_.

That kid should really close his curtain. Liam should close his own curtain. Someone should close their curtain, but Liam's not moving, and the other kid is too occupied.

So Liam sits there and watches this other boy get changed into his pajamas through both of their uncovered windows.

This isn't what good boys do. Good boys don't creep and sneakily watch other boys change. However, Liam kind of thinks it's a bit worth not being a good boy just for a minute, and he doesn't know it yet, but later in his life, he's going to be very happy he made this decision to watch.

This other boy is hot. Like… really, genuinely attractive _everywhere_. How Liam has gone through his whole life in this very room and not have noticed the attractive boy across the way is beyond him. But yeah. This kid is hot. And Liam likes looking. He likes the curve of his spine, and the stretch of his skin, and his perfect little hands that Liam just wants _touching him_.

It's weird because Liam has never been one to be attracted to people physically in such a way. Like… Zayn was always griping about how Niall needed to start bending over to reach things like a normal person when the Irish lad left the room, and Niall had lots of things to say about Zayn's jaw whenever the other boy couldn't hear, but Liam didn't have that. He just never felt that.

But he feels it now.

Eventually, the other boy is all done changing, and Liam feels horrible for watching so intently. He finally gets his wits about him and slams the curtains closed, his stomach flipping. Okay. He was never doing that again.

* * *

Liam does it again.

He does it a lot of times, actually.

He figures that maybe because he lowers his gaze whenever the other boy goes to remove his pants that it's fine, but the more and more he observes the other boy change, the longer and longer it takes for him to stop staring as the kid in the other building slips his fingers under his waist band.

Liam feels horrible guilty about all of this, and he thinks it might be best if he just boarded up every window in his house so he wouldn't feel tempted to look out.

But that can wait until tomorrow. Liam is busy watching the boy in the apartment across the way right now.

* * *

Liam watches again as the kid finishes getting changed and sits down at his desk. Normally he's not all about staring at the other boy when he's just going about his daily routine, but Liam just thinks he looks _so cute_ when he's writing, and maybe his observing is stretching into the obsessive and all the time stalker sort of behavior.

The other boy holds up a sign made out of notebook paper and sharpie.

" _Hi! My name is Lou!"_ Liam reads.

Shit.

He snaps the curtains closed the second he's done reading. Okay. Okay so yeah. You could look through windows both ways. This guy could see him back. He hadn't thought about that before.

Liam realizes he probably looks like a spaz and peeks through his curtains. The other boy –Lou, Liam supposes- is still looking straight at him, eyebrows quirked. He thinks this is funny. This is _not funny_. Liam opens up his curtains and dives down into one of his desk drawers to pull out a white board and some markers.

_**I'm not a creeper, I swear.** _

He shows his sign to Lou and watches as the other boy laughs and flips the page in his notebook. He scribbles something down and holds up a new sign.

" _It's nice to meet you, Not A Creeper_ ," Liam reads aloud and blushes furiously.

_**Sorry. My name is Liam.** _

_Cool xx Good to know you, Liam._

_**Good to know you too, Lou. I'm sorry for watching you.** _

_It's all right if you like what you see._

Liam is blushing in six different colors as Lou gets up and turns his back to the window to shake his ass in Liam's direction. He's about to write back but his mom calls for dinner, so he settles on blowing Lou a kiss the second the other boy turns around and waves him goodbye before heading to the kitchen.

Shit, that was kind of flirty of him. Shit, now he's swearing. Liam is a good boy, he promises. It's just that this Lou kid does things to him with his gorgeousness, and great hair, and perfect body… Okay, so Liam might be going to hell. But at least he'll have fun getting there.

* * *

_**Wanna play Question Tennis?** _

_What's that?_

_**I'll ask you a question, and then you answer and ask me a question back.** _

_Do you wanna start?_

_**Sure. Are we playing yet?** _

_No, but we are now! What's your favorite color?_

_**Oh, no. You're boring. It's red. Do you ever wear socks with holes in them?** _

_Your version of not-boring is socks? But yeah, doesn't everyone?_

_**Socks are cool, and mine don't have holes, so no. Can you do a split?** _

_If I want to hurt myself. Over the river or through the woods?_

_**To grandma's house we go! Over the river. Do you want fries with that?** _

_YES, OF COURSE. How many strips of bacon is too many strips of bacon?_

_**Eighteen. What's your biggest pet peeve?** _

_I hate those little strings that hook glasses around your neck or whatever. Like… just wear them on your head._

_**You didn't ask a question!** _

_You didn't either._

_**You didn't first.** _

_Didn't what first?_

_**Ask a question!** _

_What are you talking about?_

_**Question Tennis! You lost!** _

_What's Question Tennis? Who are you? Where am I?_

_**You're a nuisance.** _

_And you wouldn't want me any other way!_

* * *

Lou's curtains are closed. Lou's curtains stay closed a lot of the time now. Liam doesn't think this is fair because last time he checked, Lou said he was all right with Liam watching providing he liked what he saw. Liam _so_ liked what he saw. _Why no more watching?_

Okay, so maybe Liam actually understood the need for curtains at least a little bit. And it's not like he didn't see Lou ever. And it's even better than before because now they have actual conversations.

Sure, they're on white boards –Lou totally bought one just for talking to him- and sometimes they're more text lingo than anything else, and it doesn't quite work when it's raining, but it's talking, and Liam really, really likes talking to Lou.

He's learning so much about him. For example, Lou quite likes pickles, especially when he gets to have chocolate ice cream directly after. Lou also likes listening to cassette tapes on his giant vintage stereo because he likes how music sounds different when coming out of a boom box made forty years ago. Lou liked socks, and Supernatural, and pulling grass out of the ground, and brown eyes, and the scent of yellow Mr. Sketch markers. He doesn't like the smell of the lime green ones, though. The mint made his nose feel like he was snorting lemon juice. Oh, that's another thing. Louis liked lemons, but he didn't like limes.

Liam could write books on Louis. Did he mention he discovered his full name was Louis? Cause it is. Pronounced like "Louie", but don't ever tell him he spelled it like that. Louis hated to be spelled with an 'e' instead of an 's'.

Honestly, Liam knew it all, and he still had a million questions. It wasn't enough to know that Louis liked pickles with chocolate ice cream; he wanted to know why. He wanted to know his favorite brand of each. He had to know everything. He waited for hours for Louis to open his curtains. He thought about him all through class. He doodled his name in the margins of his notebook. _Louis, Louis, Louis._

"Seriously, Liam. Who is this kid?" Zayn asked one day during lunch as Liam filled in a block letter 'U'. He immediately slammed his notebook shut, and his cheeks heated up.

"No one. He's just… he's no one," he answered much too quickly, and Zayn smirked, reaching over the table to steal one of Liam's chips.

"But you _like_ him," he said matter-of-factly, and Liam glared.

"I like him about as much as you like _Niall_ ," he replied, and it was crazy how fast Zayn jumped across the table to slap a hand over his mouth. The older boy nervously looked over the blonde who was on the other side of the cafeteria, buying a cookie from the snack cart. Liam rolled his eyes and pushed Zayn off of him. "Relax, he's not gonna hear. Are you ready to admit you're helplessly in love with him, yet?"

The problem with Niall and Zayn was that they were both head over heels for each other with Liam as their confident, which basically meant that Liam knew they could be a couple, but they didn't. Especially Zayn. Liam was pretty sure _Zayn_ didn't even know he liked Niall; he was so closeted.

"I'm not in love with him, Liam. I just… He's just important to me, is all. That doesn't mean anything," he responded, and Liam grunted, taking one of Zayn's fries as means of payback for his missing chip.

"And I'm not in love with Lou. He's just important to me, is all," he mimicked, and Zayn stuck his tongue out at him before flushing all kinds of red when Niall slipped into the booth next to him. Liam watched Niall get close enough for their arms to brush together and smiled to himself. It was only a matter of time.

* * *

_Little sisters are stupid._

_**And why is that?** _

_They use up your hair wax and make fun of you for eating like a man._

_**Rough day?** _

_Rough day. What's going on with you?_

_**Um… I did some homework…** _

_It's Saturday._

_**Well, I mean, at least it's finished.** _

_Ugh. Liam. Don't you ever have fun?_

_**Sometimes I read comic books.** _

_I can't tell if I'm proud or sympathetic._

_**Comic books are fun! Batman is the greatest!** _

_Only when Dick and Damien are my dynamic duo._

_**ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU ARE A FAN?!** _

_Maybe._

_**LOUIS.** _

_LIAM!_

_**BUT BATMAN.** _

_BUT ROBIN._

_**You got my hopes up so high, and then you mugged and shot them in an alleyway.** _

_And you're a StarKid fan as well?_

_**WAIT. BUT YOU ARE TOO, THEN. YOU GOT MY REFERENCE.** _

_Calm down._

_**But you're a neeeeeeeeeeerd.** _

_I'm not a nerd._

_**But you are!** _

_Am not._

_**Are too!** _

_Am not._

_**Are too!** _

_Am nooooooot!_

* * *

_Hello Liam!_

_**Hi, Louis! How was your day?** _

_Terrible. Who gave teachers the right to be so fucking boring?_

_**Hmm… Probably the government. They're always doing stuff like that.** _

_Down with the establishment! Ha. How was your day?_

_**Long. Filled with Ziall drama.** _

_Ooo, what did I miss? Are they in love yet?_

_**Unfortunately no. Niall is wrongly certain that Zayn hates him.** _

_Oh no! Why? What did Zayn do?_

_**Nothing. Niall was sitting on his lap and it was obviously –eh-hem-** _ **exciting** _**Zayn so he had to push him off.** _

_Poor dears. You should just tell both of them._

_**I would if Zayn wasn't so… so… help me out here.** _

_Stupid? Insane? Unaware? Oblivious?_

_**Oblivious! That one. It's like he doesn't even know what it means to like someone.** _

_And you obviously do._

_**Hm… I do like someone very much, I will admit.** _

_Damn. I have to go, but you're not getting out of this conversation. We'll talk about her later! Bye!_

_**Bye.** _

* * *

"So how's the kid across the street?" Niall asked while they were sitting in Liam's room one Friday night. His curtains were closed. His curtains had been closed for a few days now. Sometimes he would peak out and see that Louis's were open, but that didn't make him want to open up.

"I don't know," Liam answered, and Niall quirked an eyebrow at him. It was Friday night, and Niall was sleeping over. Niall slept over a lot. His parents were in the midst of getting a divorce, so they were fighting with each other, and Greg still hadn't moved out, so they were fighting with his brother, and they didn't approve of being gay, so they were fighting with Niall as well. Normally Niall stayed over at Zayn's, but he currently thought Zayn hated him, so that wasn't going to happen this weekend.

"What do you mean you don't know? Don't you talk to him –or write to him- every day?" Niall asked. The younger boy was sitting cross-legged on the floor, flipping through some of Liam's old comic books.

"Not recently," Liam said with a sigh, and Niall somehow looked even more confused than before.

"Why not?" he questioned, and Liam sighed.

"I told him I liked someone and he said 'we'll talk about her later' and then left," he answered. "And I just kinda took it like… Like he hadn't even thought about me you know? Like… he just assumes I'm straight, so it's not like… I don't know. I just don't think he's interested."

Niall made a disgusted noise. " _Or_ ," he started, "Or he was super upset to hear you liked someone, and didn't want to get his hopes up by thinking you could like guys like him, and then left really fast because he wasn't prepared to keep himself together while you talked about your potential girlfriend or boyfriend," Niall suggested, and Liam looked at him like he was nuts before hitting him upside the head.

"How can you do that and not tell _that Zayn is hopelessly in love with you and that you should just date him already?"_ Liam asked, and Niall shrugged sheepishly.

"Well… he already knows your at least bi, right? Cause you stared at him before you started talking," Niall reminded him. "I think you should say sorry for not talking to him, and you should get together." Niall stood up and peeked out the window. Liam flopped onto his bed.

"Okay… okay, but you don't dictate my life Niall Horan!" he exclaimed, but the other boy was too busy laughing to hear him. "Wait, what is it?" he asked, quickly joining Niall at the window and blushing when he saw what had the Irish lad in stitches.

_I'm sorry for being dumb! xxx_

"Looks like he beat you to it!" Niall giggled, and Liam's cheeks turned scarlet. He quickly made a sign to put up in his own window.

_**I'm sorry, too. xxx** _

* * *

_**Looooooouiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissssss. Come out to plaaaaaaaaay!** _

_Calm down, I'm here._

_**But I missed yooooooou. And I have more questions.** _

_How could you possibly have more questions?!_

_**I'm just so curious about you!** _

_Haha, okay, okay, shoot!_

_**How many girlfriends have you had?** _

_1: Her name was Eleanor._

_**How many boyfriends?** _

_Ha. You nailed me. 1: His name was Harry._

_**How long did they last?** _

_Eleanor lasted a year and a half, Harry lasted a week when we realized that we were only together because we were the only two out guys in school._

_**Where do you go to school?** _

_I'm homeschooled ;D JK. I'm already off at uni._

_**Oh. I'm in my final year before.** _

_We normally don't do personal stuff like this._

_**I realised that. And then I noticed that I already know where you live, so…** _

_You're right. This isn't the Internet. Nothing to hide._

_**I'm gay.** _

_So you, too?_

_**Yeah. I don't like a girl. I like you. Nothing to hide.** _

_I like you, too. Nothing to hide._

_**You're older.** _

_You're younger._

_**What's your favorite animal print?** _

_Giraffe. I'm not some chav. I'm original._

_**How many toes have you got?** _

_Three on each foot._

_**Woah, really?!** _

_Nothing to hide, aha. No, I've got ten total._

_**So do I.** _

_I'm not surprised._

_**It's getting late. I have school.** _

_Goodnight, Liam._

_**Goodnight Lou.** _

* * *

"So basically we're going to get married and have kids and it's going to be perfect, and I'm super excited. You should be jealous," Liam raved to Zayn over the phone. It was three in the morning, and they had school the next day. Liam couldn't sleep, and Zayn was an insomniac because apparently, he had a lot to think about most nights. Liam never hesitated to call him no matter what time it was.

Zayn hesitated before answering –so long that Liam was about to check his reception- but eventually he spoke. "I think I would like to marry Niall," Zayn said, and Liam's breath hitched.

"Yeah?" he asked, and Zayn hummed.

"Yeah," he replied, and he paused for a second again. A very long second. "Also, I think that it might be all right to just date him too. Like… like soonish, you know what I mean? Like… like maybe you could go with Lou and I could go with Ni and then we could go on double dates," Zayn said, and Liam let out a huff of air.

"That would be awesome. Zayn…. I'm really glad you like Niall," he said, and once again, Zayn hummed.

"Yeah. And I think he might like me back," the older boy said, and Liam couldn't help but snort. He didn't want to make Zayn feel bad in such a crucial moment, but _seriously?_ Was he _blind?_

"Yeah, I think he does too. And I think that maybe you should date. And maybe your sleepovers should turn into things that I wouldn't want to be invited to. And maybe you should buy him candy on Valentines Day. And maybe… maybe you should get married. Like… like actually get married," Liam suggested.

"Yeah," Zayn said a bit breathlessly, and Liam wished he could see him. He wished he could hug him for coming out. He would do it tomorrow morning before Niall got to class. And he would tell him properly face to face how proud he was. "Do you… do you think I should ask him to dinner or something?"

"Definitely. Niall loves food," Liam answered. "And you know… you shouldn't stress the where or the what. Cause I think Niall's really gonna just be happy to go with you, you know what I mean?"

"I do." Zayn was quiet again for a moment. "I'm… I'm really tired Liam."

"You can go to sleep. I won't keep you up," he offered, and he wouldn't mind going to bed either now that he had gotten so much off his chest.

"No, I mean… I mean I'm just tired. And I think Niall would make that much better," Zayn replied, and Liam was tired too. He wanted Louis. He definitely wanted Louis.

* * *

But Louis was gone. He was gone, and Liam couldn't figure out where he went. His curtains had been closed for two weeks, and Liam couldn't figure why what he said was so bad if Louis liked him too.

He had a moment of hope when he came home to see open drapes, but he was sorely disappointed when he realized that Louis's room was wrong. There were Barbies on the shelves, and Justin Bieber posters on the wall. There were two beds instead of one, and two nightstands and two dressers, and Liam didn't know what had happened. Had Louis moved or something? Was he looking at the wrong window?

He just wanted to know where Lou _was_. He missed talking to him. He missed watching him. He missed coming home to opened curtains and nothing to hide.

* * *

Liam was sprawled out on his bed thinking about life, and death, and broken hearts when the doorbell rang. His mom opened the door for some man, though while Liam could hear their voices, he couldn't hear what they were saying until his mom called for him. "Liam! Someone's at the door for you!" she yelled, and Liam sighed before peeling himself up from the bed.

He walked out into the hall and stopped dead when he saw no one other than Louis standing in his living room. "Lou!" he squeaked, and the other boy, oddly enough, seemed surprised as well.

"Liam! Hi! Um, um, um, my parents switched my room with my sisters'. I… I… I didn't mean to leave you. I wouldn't want to leave you," he said, and Liam's mom stared between the two of them awkwardly.

"I'm just… I'm going to go finish up with dinner," she said before waddling off, and Liam facepalmed before looking back to Louis.

"I'm sorry about her, um… she's really great; she just hangs around sometimes, but… but okay. Okay. You're here. How did you get here?" he asked, and Louis shrugged a bit uncomfortably.

"I counted up floors from where your window was, and then I started knocking on doors," Lou answered and then frowned. "Also, you have mean neighbors. Also, you have a cute voice. Also, you should give me your number, and then we can text, and then I can take you out for like… coffee or something," he offered, and Liam stuck his tongue out.

"I don't like coffee," he whined, and Louis smiled something dazzling and rolled his eyes.

"Okay, then we'll go see a movie. Whatever. We should just do something," he said, and Liam smiled.

"Yeah… yeah, okay, here," he said, snagging a sharpie from the table and scrawling his number across Lou's hand. He finished with a heart because Liam was flirty and cheesy like that. Louis grinned at him.

"I'm going to miss talking to you through the windows," he said happily, and Liam beamed at him.

"It'll be better to date you."


End file.
